Food for thought

I've been soooooo busy. I'm trying to get my rental units occupied for winter, and my father-in-law, Alcide Michaud, passed away on October 2. 

I started work as a waitress on Friday, September 30, at the Long Lake Sporting Club in Sinclair. I hadn't done anything like that since high school, and was fired up about the chance to earn a hundred or more dollars in like five hours of work; however, I was denied an equal share of the pooled tips! Telling me I was still "in training" the owners allowed the waitress in charge to give me less than half the pay other waitresses received... including one who was hired a few days AFTER I was!  

About the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

And now I've been fired. Quoting the owners "It's just not working out." What a disappointment. Luckily chef and co-owner of The Swamp Buck, Mark Tardif, had called me just a few days before I was fired, and I've been putting in a few hours at the restaurant, doing some cleaning. We actually get to take breaks there, and we have a time clock... unlike at the Sporting Club. Though it isn't illegal to not have a time clock, it is illegal not to pay employees for hours worked simply because you didn't get any customers that day, or night.

Maine Department of Labor


Maine Human Rights Commission - The Whistleblower's Protection Act is supposed to protect a person who reports his/her employer's illegal activity and then is fired. You'll find actual reports at the Commission's website, however names are hidden. 
 
 

Deal, or No Deal? The plea bargain

I came upon this information about plea bargains and thought I'd share it with you as well as list it under my Law Links.

Pete (my husband) had to appear in court today regarding the "felon in possession of firearms" charges. He wouldn't let me go to court with him and he didn't bring home any paperwork. He said he was unable to speak to the judge and that the Assistant District Attorney, April Hare, would like to see him get jail time if he doesn't accept a plea bargain! He is very stressed out about this situation. Hunting was a sport that he enjoyed so much, and now Maine State employees have taken that away from him, and turned our lives upside down. One of our sons blames us because his guns were taken from our home and we haven't been able to get them back for him. 

Back in May I blogged about the unreasonable search and seizure in which ten or more agents of the state took over a dozen guns (most belonging to our sons) from our home on April 28, 2011.

Pete's court-appointed attorney, Tobey Jandreau, apparently filed a "motion to suppress statements of defendant" but he never sent a copy of the filing to Pete. Jandreau should have put in a notice of disqualification of the judge. I provided him a copy of the letter I received from the Committee on Judicial Responsibility and Disability acknowledging receipt of my complaint against Judge Hunter.